Scientists create 3D map of the hepatitis B virus

LA JOLLA - Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have
created a three-dimensional map of the hepatitis B virus.

The study by Drs. Mark Yeager and Francis Chisari - detailed in
today's edition of the journal Molecular Cell - could point the way
to new therapies that disrupt the virus' infection pathway, the
scientists said.

Hepatitis B, often transmitted by shared needles or unprotected
sex, causes long-term damage to the liver.

The scientists took images of Hepatitis B in mice and patient
blood samples.

"By rapidly freezing the samples, we were able to use
cryo-electron microscopy to image the particles while they were
maintained at the temperature of liquid nitrogen - around minus-300
degrees - which preserves them in a state close to what exists (in
a living organism)," Yeager said.

The map showed that a hepatitis B virus is nearly 10 times
larger than a hemoglobin molecule, Yeager said.

The scientists also found unique features that distinguish it
from similar viruses like influenza or herpes.

The virus is carried by more than 350 million people around the
world, and about one million die from its effects annually.